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All-Purpose Policy and Meta discussion: Administrivia.Trope Repair Shop

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Before making or posting in a thread, read the Trope Repairing Guidelines to see whether a thread you're considering making actually should be made, as well as what is and isn't allowed in an open thread.

This thread is a metathread for Trope Repair Shop discussion. Things like TRS policy, what is needed in a TRS opening post, questions about whether a certain topic is TRS-worthy and questions about why a thread wasn't opened go here.

Some guidelines for when/whether to use TRS:

  • If the trope is fine, but has some bad examples, feel free to clean them up or to start a cleanup project at Projects: Short-Term. Trope Repair Shop is for when cleaning isn't sufficient.
  • If you think there's something wrong with the trope that systematically attracts improper examples, start a discussion at Trope Talk. Use a Wick Check to see whether there's an issue present (and if there is, what the issue is). The following methods are two possible ways to do a wick check (though not necessarily the only ways):
    • You can go ahead with the Wick Check without a discussion if you know what you're looking for. While it's not mandatory, feel free to ask someone for help confirming that you got the issue and the numbers correct.
    • Consult the Wick Check Project thread to collect evidence if you need help.
  • Depending on a trope (or non-trope) in question, a wick check may be determined to not be required, such as for tropes that are not thriving (per the standards for trope health listed on the Wick page). However, there is no problem if you want to do one anyway.

For a more detailed introduction to this forum, click here.

For related projects, see Wick Cleaning Projects and the Wick Check Project.

For a list of wiki pages related to thread outcomes, see the following:

Edited by GastonRabbit on Aug 12th 2025 at 11:35:13 AM

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000)
#6601: Jan 2nd 2023 at 6:14:03 PM

Worth noting that there's only about 700 more Uncanny Valley wicks to check as well; I'm on Main/ and I've done everything from Z-U (stopping at the T's, going up from the bottom).

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#6602: Jan 2nd 2023 at 7:12:05 PM

Taking care of Sunday Leaked Document took like five minutes, so ~War Jay 77 is next on the queue.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000)
#6603: Jan 2nd 2023 at 7:55:03 PM

Wowwww, I hadn't realized my next slot was that far up.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
tyrannobubs3110 Mr Since: Jun, 2022
Mr
#6604: Jan 3rd 2023 at 1:19:22 PM

I think we should rename The War of Earthly Aggression to something less obviously based on a Confederate term for the American Civil War, given all the controversy around the CSA in recent years. The Martian Revolution, referencing the American Revolution (which is what the trope is closer to, just Recycled In Space), would be a good replacement.

FernandoLemon Nobody Here from Argentina (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Staying up all night to get lucky
#6605: Jan 3rd 2023 at 1:40:51 PM

[up] Might be better discussed here.

Edited by FernandoLemon on Jan 3rd 2023 at 6:40:59 AM

I'd like to apologize for all this.
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#6606: Jan 3rd 2023 at 2:13:13 PM

Brought up here, but the general idea is for some threads to do a secondary wick check before closing to save the "how it is supposed to be" picture for future reference. Thoughts?

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
Just stoic wisdom.
#6607: Jan 4th 2023 at 12:44:48 PM

~Eievie some threads are gonna close soon, so you're on deck.

Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker Mail
amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
#6608: Jan 4th 2023 at 9:22:47 PM

Took about a year, but finally got around to wick checking Asian Airhead and adding it to the queue to deal with the soft split and definition issues

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#6609: Jan 4th 2023 at 9:51:25 PM

Closed Period Fic's thread, ~Tropers/Eievie

Eievie Since: Feb, 2014
#6610: Jan 5th 2023 at 4:22:28 PM

There were 2 opening, so I created pages for my first 2. What that the appropriate step to take?

themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#6611: Jan 5th 2023 at 4:22:57 PM

[up] Correct, that’s how the queue works.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#6612: Jan 5th 2023 at 5:32:02 PM

What if queue entires also had like signatures that at least two tropers have looked at the wick check and OP and agree it's fine to be threaded?

Or just require doing that before even adding to avoid "should have been in Wiki Talk first / needs more for an argument".

Edited by Amonimus on Jan 5th 2023 at 4:32:53 PM

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#6613: Jan 5th 2023 at 5:48:19 PM

[up][up][up]Yes, another thread was closed after Period Fic's. Just did not see a point to pinging you twice

Hello83433 (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
#6614: Jan 5th 2023 at 6:43:48 PM

[up][up] I kind of like that idea. And since we have the Wick Check thread, it would in theory be relatively simple to ask for a couple of eyes on a newly completed wick check.

CSP Cleanup Thread | All that I ask for ... is diamonds and dance floors
FernandoLemon Nobody Here from Argentina (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Staying up all night to get lucky
#6615: Jan 5th 2023 at 7:00:15 PM

Since one of the threads closed due to the wick check being incomplete, what goes next? Next item in queue?

I'd like to apologize for all this.
themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#6616: Jan 5th 2023 at 7:00:55 PM

[up] ~Eievie is next. The wick check they did for Oedipus Complex seemed to be better, but I haven't checked in a while and I may be misremembering.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#6617: Jan 5th 2023 at 8:25:18 PM

Right, so now Eievie just added both the morgued thread they did for Aggressive Submissive and the one that's currently open for Scoundrel Code back to the TRS Queue with the following note appended:

on hold until I get a clear, widely agreed upon answer of what a duplicate trope wick check is supposed to be like

This is getting kind of ridiculous and I'm not sure what to do now.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#6618: Jan 5th 2023 at 8:44:08 PM

IIRC previously, in that kind of situation Aggressive Submissive thread would have been put on a 3 days clock, and if wick check isn't complete it'd effectively be considered resolved with no problem found.

Edited by Amonimus on Jan 5th 2023 at 7:44:35 PM

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#6619: Jan 5th 2023 at 8:47:06 PM

Well, I guess I could bring it back and clock it although I would think that the OP would know what the minimum wick count should be.

Macron's notes
Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
Just stoic wisdom.
#6620: Jan 5th 2023 at 8:50:09 PM

Huh. My very first foray into TRS was for a dupe, but it wasn't a big deal because the tropes were literally identical. Grabbed all the wicks from one, the requisite wicks from the other, and pointed out that there was no difference in the content (plus the same scenes being cited for both/both tropes being wicked). There really isn't anything more specific than "gather wicks and analyze" but idk. I sympathize with the lack of clear instructions being a pain but there isn't a one size fits all.

Hopefully I'll round up the wick cleaning counts tomorrow. I think the queue's been making some solid progress.

Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker Mail
Eievie Since: Feb, 2014
#6621: Jan 5th 2023 at 11:25:00 PM

When I first added two duplicate trope items to the queue, there was a discussion about what a wick check for a duplicate trope should look like. Different people were talking over each other, there were multiple different answers pitched. There didn't seem to be much shared consensus. And then of the answers I did get, none of them a whole lot of sense to me. And some of what I heard didn't seem to carry over until now. I heard a lot of "it depends", but clearly what I concluded was the wrong "depending". I was told only do one page of the pairs, but now that's been rescinded.

Now it's time for round two. "You've already been told" is true. But it's also true that after all this time I still don't really understand what I'm supposed to do. I know people are tied of this, I'm tried too, but I promise I'm not being deliberately obtuse. The more answers I get, the more confused and scattered I get, if anything. So — starting from square one again — can I get a succinct, stand-alone explanation of what a duplicate trope wick check is supposed to demonstrate? One that you guys agree on?

Duplicate tropes are pretty different from the other things done on this forum. Most of the other categories are variously claiming "a trope is being using badly" and then you provide examples of it being used badly. Duplicate is about "A and B are not meaningfully different" and so you're supposed to provide... examples of them being the same, I guess? Except the claim isn't that they're completely indistinguishable, exactly — just that they're not different enough to qualify as separate tropes. And that's the part where I get lost. I just don't see how examples can be used to evidence that the distinction is not important enough to make it a separate trope.

GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
Just stoic wisdom.
#6623: Jan 6th 2023 at 9:39:13 AM

[up] Mac unmorgued a thread, so it's still at cap.

Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker Mail
GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
MorganWick (Elder Troper)
#6625: Jan 6th 2023 at 10:55:19 AM

Some clarification of Administrivia.Trope Repair Shop and Administrivia.How To Do A Wick Check, especially with regards to "duplicate trope" threads, may be in order. But I don't see why moderators aren't approving threads and working with tropers to improve deficient ones while they're in the queue. Granted, until the queue is formally accommodated in the code threads still have to be approved once they're actually posted, but no one should have to wait however long it takes for their thread to climb to the top of the queue and then have their thread rejected for an issue that could have been fixed at some point during the wait.

Edited by MorganWick on Jan 6th 2023 at 10:55:43 AM


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